


That Could Have Gone Better

by orphan_account



Category: Stranger Things (TV 2016)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Billy being an asshole, Billy being cute and soft, Blink and you miss it Sub Billy Hargrove, F/F, F/M, Hopper being papa best to everyone, Just that Neil was a dick, M/M, Mentions of Billy’s traumatic Childhood, Nothing explicit, Robin and Nancy are badasses, meet ugly, small mention of abuse, unfortunate first meetings
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-10-26
Updated: 2019-12-13
Packaged: 2021-01-04 00:16:03
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 6,923
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21188375
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: Billy and Steve hadn’t exactly met on the friendliest of terms. Still, it wasn’t uncommon for models and musicians to cross paths so they did really need to learn how to put up with each other.





	1. Meet Ugly

**Author's Note:**

> Inspired by an awesome Tumblr gif set of Billy as a Model and Steve as the front man for a band. I would link the gif but I’m shit at that sort of thing.

Their first meeting hadn’t exactly gone the way Steve had hoped it would to say the least. 

Billy Hargrove wasn’t just a top male model, he was a queer icon and Steve may have had a bit of a crush on him. Ok that was also an understatement, he was desperately in love two sentences into that interview with GQ from three years ago where he’d talked about his shitty childhood and he still routinely jerked off to that music video he was in with Panic at the Disco. The shirtless one where he’d spent half the video sending serious bedroom eyes Brendon’s way and the other half soaking wet. (To this day he still didn’t understand how Brendon had managed to make it through the video without climbing Billy like a tree, but he guessed the other singer just had more restraint than Steve did.)

So it should be completely unsurprising to everyone when Steve tripped over his own feet when he met Billy for the first time. Unfortunately it also happened to be in the red carpet of the Grammys so the entire world was also privy to this catastrophic first meeting as well. 

The Party had been nominated for 3 awards and Steve was ecstatic. They had worked their assess off for the last five years, slowly climbing the charts and now they were finally getting some proper recognition for it. Probably has something to do with kicking their old drummer Tommy to the curb and replacing him Steve’s ex, longtime best friend, and absolute badass, Nancy Wheeler. Nance was also part of a very public relationship with Jonathan Byers, an up and coming photographer, and Robin Buckley, a Pulitzer Prize winning journalist with the New Yorker, and was a media darling who had brought the sort of fan base in that Dustin and Steve never could have imagined having back when their band had first formed. 

So he was of course, stoked to be at the Grammys, dressed to kill, and possibly a little bit tipsy when he’d stepped out of the limo and onto the red carpet, behind Dustin and just before Nancy and Jonathan. 

The first ten minutes or so went fine, they took a few photos, signed a few autographs, the usual stuff. Eventually Steve was pulled away from the others for a quick interview, a number of microphones being shoved into his face while the rest of the band moved further down the lines to pick up some questions from some of the other members of the press. It didn’t slip past him the way Nancy made a beeline for the representative from E News that had called her relationship with Robin and Jonathan unnatural, he hoped she absolutely eviscerated the asshole. 

Steve was midway through answering a question about the concept behind their most recent album when he spotted Billy, his words catching in his throat and his mind going blank, Jesus Christ he was so much prettier in person. Dressed in a loose burgundy top, buttons open and showing off an unfair amount of his chest, his blond curls artfully messy. 

The reporter he had been talking to glanced over to where Steve was looking, “he really is isn’t he.”

Fuck, had Steve said that bit about Billy being pretty aloud? Shit the gossip rags were going to have a field day with that one. 

“So, Billy Hargrove, you can’t tell me you didn’t expect to see him tonight, what with him helping to finance the newest and hottest music studio of the year?” The reporter asked. 

Steve let out a hollow laugh pulling his eyes away from the other man, throwing out some off hand comment about models stepping out of their lane and getting involved in an industry they really had no background in and how he just was surprised is all. He tried to wrap the interview up as quick as he could, hoping to avoid giving the tabloids more fodder than he already had, so when he moved to turn away from the interview and head back down the red carpet he hadn’t really been looking where he was going and two steps later he bumped head first into the very solid, very masculine chest, knocking someone to the ground before tripping over his own feet and going down right after him. 

He managed to catch himself before he completely face planted, but in doing so he brought himself face to face with a pair of stunning blue eyes, his arms bracketing the other man, knee between his legs, thankfully just far enough off that he didn’t accidentally hit anything vital cause wouldn’t that have made this introduction just that much worse.

For a few minutes they just sort of stared at each other, neither one really making a move before the silence was broken by Dustin’s shout of “What the Fuck Steve,” that spurred them both into action, Steve scrambling off of Billy as quick as he could and Billy pushing himself upright, leaning back on his hands, legs splayed out in front of him in a way that was frankly a bit pornographic and the last thing Steve needed to do right now was pop a boner but come on it was supremely unfair that someone could be that sexy.

In an effort to avoid exactly that and to maybe salvage some of his dignity he held out a hand to help Billy up, “I am so sorry man, I didn’t see you there at all.”

Billy’s hands were warm and calloused, and Steve has to bite back a groan and stop himself from actively thinking about those hands on his dick when Billy accepted his hand and let himself be pulled up. 

“It’s fine pretty boy,” Billy responded, dusting himself off. His voice was smooth and soft, sexier than Steve recalled it being from all of those interviews he’d listened to. The effect was somewhat ruined by the way Billy was glaring at Steve and his next few words were harsh, “maybe just watch where you’re going next time,” he said before pushing past Steve and continuing down the red carpet. 

“What an asshat,” Dustin muttered from Steve’s side as they watched Billy go. 

“An unfairly hot one unfortunately.”

—

The Grammys has not gone how Billy would have hoped. 

Sure, he’d met the man of his dreams, but that had been very promptly ruined by him deciding to be a complete and utter asshole. He’d blame it on how he’d been raised, trained from a young age to be defensive and prickly, but that was really no excuse for being a dick to Steve Harrington. 

So here he was, after the debacle that was the red carpet, sequestered in the men’s room, trying to regulate his breathing while he proceeded to freak out about meeting his celebrity crush and proceeding to ensure that the man absolutely despised him. Seriously, he wanted to bash his head into the wall and scream at the universe for making his default setting asshole when he was around someone he was attracted to. 

The Party had always been Billy’s favorite punk band. Their songs had so much depth and had gotten him though some of the worst times in his life. He’d also been head over heels for Steve Harrington for the last five years of his life, even back when he was in the closet. Hell the possibility of crossing paths with the band was half the reason Billy decided to team up with Max when she’d suggested starting up a record label. 

The label was still pretty small, but they’d managed to snag a few really great artist, one of them, El, an amazing folk singer, was even nominated tonight. 

So he had thought, why not, step outside your lane a bit, attend the Grammys and support El, who knows, maybe meet a few other artists, create some stronger relationships within the industry and see how it goes. He loved modeling, but it wasn’t something he could do forever. Music seemed like a good option that might be able to carry him a bit once he was done with his modeling career, and he really enjoyed it. 

Still, he’d been surprised when he saw Steve in the red carpet, looking stunning in his well cut black suit. Billy felt supremely underdressed just looking at him. Fuck he was so much hotter in real life. Billy has to practically tear his eyes away from the other man and turn back towards the flashing cameras. 

He’d made his way down the red carpet, steadily closer to the entire band that had been pulled aside for interviews. He was just passing behind them when Steve suddenly turned around and crashed into Billy, knocking him back on his ass before tumbling down on top of him. 

Everything after that was a bit of a blur for Billy, but by the time he made it to the bathroom he had enough clarity of mind to recognize he’d made a complete ass of himself. Not only had he been a dick to his longtime musical crush, but he’d also been a dick to a huge name in the industry and may have just caused god knows how much damage to his fledgling record label. 

Shit, Max was going to kill him.


	2. Too Close for Comfort

In retrospect, Billy probably should have seen this coming. 

Heather had asked him if he would be willing to star in her next music video, and he, being the best friend that he was, had agreed. 

Added bonus, the video was going to be focused on LGBTQ+ rights and she was enlisting the help of every major queer artist she knew and all sales from the single would be going to support a number of different charities. 

So yes, knowing that 2/3rds of The Party was very gay he shouldn’t have been as surprised as he was when Steve Harrington and Nancy Wheeler showed up on set the day of the video shoot, but he was. 

He managed to corner Heather about two seconds after he spotted Steve and his ridiculous hair, dragging his friend to the other side of the craft services tent, hopefully out of earshot of a certain someone. 

“What the fuck are you trying to pull Heather!”

Heather just rolled her eyes, “I can’t do a video focused on LGBTQ issues and not invite two of the most relevant gay artist of our time Hargrove, if I did Tumblr would come for my head.”

“You couldn’t have had them film their bit at a different time than me?” He demanded, not caring that he sounded like the whiny, petulant diva the whole world thought models were. 

“And miss out on you turning into a stuttering mess in front of Harrington, not a chance,” she stepped around him, making her way back towards the set. “Besides, your scene is with Harrington,” she threw over her shoulder before running off cackling, completely ignoring Billy’s frustrated groan that followed. 

Well this was going to be Hell. 

—

Heather hadn’t been exactly forthcoming when she said what his scene in her music video would be, but he also trusted her and knew it was for a good cause so Steve hadn’t really pushed when she had initially asked. 

He was now wishing that he had. 

I mean he would have still said yes, but at least he would have been more prepared for the sight of a shirtless Billy handcuffed to a bed clad only in a pair of tight black boxer briefs. His hair, which had recently been cut short, was carefully mussed and there was a blush blooming high on his cheeks. All of this stood in sharp contrast to how Steve was dressed in a sharp gray suit. Seeing Billy look so vulnerable was doing all sorts of things to Steve. 

“What the fuck Heather,” Steve snapped when he finally dragged his eyes away from Billy, “you did not mention this was that kind of video.”

Heather didn’t even look up from the pad of paper she was flipping through. “We’re subverting normal hetero tropes Harrington, everyone is representing a different famous film couple but this time we’re all gay. You and Hargrove just drew the short stick and got Fifty Shades of Gray.”

“You do realize that’s a pretty terrible representation of BDSM and showcased a very unhealthy relationship,” Billy commented from the bed. It might have been Steve’s imagination but his voice sounded a little bit higher than Steve recalled it being. 

“Yeah, but you have to admit it’s kinda hot when it’s the two of you,” Heather responded finally looking up. “Relax, you won’t have that much to film, there are so many people in this video we will only need like two or three shots of the two of you tops.”

“So handcuffing him to bed was absolutely necessary why,” Steve commented, motioning back towards Billy. 

“It’s for aesthetic Harrington, now chill out for a second while I run you both through the shots we need and then you can get out of here ok,” Heather commented, finally looking up from her notepad. “If I had known directing my own video would be this much of a pain I would have hired someone else to do it,” the smile she couldn’t hold back seemed to indicate that she was actually very much enjoying this. 

In the end the scenes they were asked to film were probably a bit more than Steve could handle and he was now suffering from a serious case of blue balls. 

The first shot shouldn’t have been that bad really, just Steve standing at the foot of the bed staring at Billy while the camera panned up both of them. It was a basic shot designed to establish the dynamic. The problem was that Billy had long mastered the art of making bedroom eyes at the camera and having that stare directed at him now was both the hottest and most terrifying thing Steve had ever experienced.

Of course it all went downhill from there. The second shot was of Steve sitting down on the side of the bed, hand sliding back into Billy’s hair to tug gently, pulling Billy’s head back to expose his throat. It was getting harder to ignore the rush of arousal spreading through him, particularly with the soft groan Billy let out when Steve first got his hands in his hair and how his eyes went dark when Steve let go, shifting his grip to Billy’s throat, hand just coming to rest there, not really applying any pressure. 

The last shot was the absolute worst though. The handcuffs were removed for this one, Steve’s tie was undone, wrapped around Billy’s head instead as a makeshift blindfold, Steve was now sitting fully on the bed, back resting against the headboard while Billy was perched in his lap. Steve had his forehead pressed against Billy’s, a steady hand at the back of his neck, the other gripping Billy’s hip holding him in place. Billy’s arms were wound around Steve’s shoulders, one hand playing idly with the hairs at the nape of Steve’s neck. The shot itself didn’t call for much, it was supposed to just be a few seconds, cutting away right before what would look like them leaning in for a kiss, but it seemed to take forever for Heather to get exactly what she was looking for with regards to angles so Steve and Billy just sat their, breathing with each other and pressed together. Steve spent most of his time simply trying to not get hard and embarrass himself more than he already had in front of Billy so when Heather finally called cut he had to refrain from just dumping Billy off his lap in an effort to hide exactly how the other man was affecting him. 

Luckily it seems like Billy was in just as much of a hurry to get off of him as Steve was because he practically ripped the tie off of his head and jumped off of the bed before Steve could even begin to move. Still there was something interesting in the way his eyes darkened when he looked back at Steve and the way his voice seemed to catch when he finally spoke. 

“Thanks for being so considerate Harrington, not always the most comfortable thing being handcuffed and then tugged around like a sex toy,” shit why did Billy have to even sound like they’d just gone several rounds in the sack, this was not helping. 

“No problem,” Steve squeaked out, watching as Billy grabbed a dressing robe that had been hanging near the door, dropped a quick kiss on Heather’s cheek before he was out the door. 

“Want me to leave you alone for a little private time with your hand Harrington or are you going to man up and actually ask him on a date?” Heather asked, now back to flipping through her notepad, no doubt looking through to see what other shoots were left for the day, pointing at something on the paper for her camera guy, the other man nodding in agreement before starting to pack up some of the equipment. 

“Huh,” was all Steve managed to get out, brain not really fully online yet. 

Heather just sighed, “word of advice, get to it soon before Billy starts spiraling into his usual self doubt bullshit and decides to go out and get fucked by someone who doesn’t really give a shit about him because he assumes you’re not interested. I’d rather not have to pick up the pieces of that just because you couldn’t get your shit together. Also nice job today, with how hot you two looked this is sure to be the music video that launched a thousand fanfics.”

Steve really wasn’t sure how to even respond to that, not that he had to as Heather was following Billy out the door immediately after dropping that on him.


	3. Hops

Steve and Billy’s paths wouldn’t cross for another several months following the video shoot. 

Still that didn’t exactly stop the speculation from both the tabloids and the fangirls after that music video premiered. Hell, even Steve wasn’t so sure they weren’t dating after the way they looked in that video. 

And Billy of course was being a complete little shit and just feeding the rumors. Yeah Steve saw that buzzfeed interview where Billy has talked about how they had a lot of fun together. He wasn’t entirely certain if that wasn’t payback for his comment to a bunch of paparazzi about how he’d like to keep his private life private, and in hindsight, that hadn’t diffused the rumors quiet the way he had hoped it would. 

Still, while the world seemed to think they were dating, Steve hadn’t exactly taken Heather’s advice and manned up and asked Billy out like he had said she would so here he was, boyfriend-less, and still desperately in love with Billy Hargrove despite the fact that they had both been nothing but assholes to each other in the brief moments when they were actually talking to each other. 

Lucky for Steve, his band mates and friends had a few tricks up their sleeve. 

“We’re doing a photo shoot for Vogue, that’s a bit outside the norm for us isn’t it?” Steve asked from the breakfast bar at Nancy’s place, watching her and Jonathan bounce around the kitchen making waffles for breakfast. 

“A bit, but Jonathan’s doing the shoot and Robin is writing the article so it sort of fits, it will be good publicity for us,” Nancy responded placing a plate of food in front of Steve. 

“I mean I get why you would be doing the shoot, but having Dustin and I there doesn’t make a lot of sense,” Steve commented before he started to dig into the frankly fantastic smelling breakfast before him. 

“We’re trying to not make this all about our relationship. Robin really wants to do a piece about how much the band means for representation and your importance to the LGBTQ+ movement. Plus it will be a nice break for Robin, she’s been working on so many stories that are so intense her being able to do a puff piece will be a good reprieve now that the New Yorker is letting her do more and more freelance work,” Jonathan was right of course, but that didn’t exactly calm Steve’s nerves much, I mean this was Vogue, that whole high fashion world was a bit uncharted waters for him. Still, he guessed it might be fun. 

Of course he hadn’t realized Nancy, Jonathan and Robin had been scheming up something else when they proposed this so he was very, very surprised when he arrived at the studio for their shoot only to find Jonathan already in the midst of another photo shoot with one Billy Hargrove. 

And Billy looked good, better than Steve could even really remember. 

His blond hair was a mess, he had a healthy amount of stubble, dressed in a black Henley that was unbuttoned so far down his chest it was almost a bit obscene. He looked so goddam attractive Steve’s a bit surprised he didn’t stumble over his own feet again or completely embarrass himself upon immediately seeing the other man. Instead he just whirled around to face Nancy who has been walking into the studio behind him. “What the fuck Nance, you planned this.”

“I planned this doofus,” Robin appeared from somewhere on their left, dropping a quick kiss in Nancy’s cheek before turning to face Steve. “Lucas is doing a short piece on Billy and the charity work he is doing centered on homeless LGBT youth and mental health so I called in a few favors to make sure the piece on The Party could be included in the same issue. Vogue lapped it up, people are already calling it the seminal Queer Issue and demanding Vogue continue to run this sort of thing at least annually. It’s kind of worth it to see you get all squirmy around him. You know if you just asked him out he would say yes.”

“You don’t know that,” Steve snapped back. 

“Know what,” asked a soft sultry voice behind him. Well shit, looks like Billy was done with his shoot. 

“Nothing,” Steve responded, whirling around to face the other man, and damn he looked good close up. Someone had decided that mascara and a light bit of eyeliner was a good idea and they were making his already gorgeous eyes that much prettier. “Just talking about all the buzz this issue is going to get.”

That brought out a dazzling smile and Steve was such a goner for this guy, “yeah I’m so glad to be a part of it, can’t believe you managed to get them to pull all this together Robin!”

“What can I say, I’m a miracle worker,” she responded back with a little wink. 

“We were planning on going out tonight to celebrate,” Jonathan had just made his way over after having packed up some of his equipment so it wouldn’t get lost in the shuffle of resetting the set up for the next shoot. “You should come with, it’s not going to be much, just us heading over to Hops around the corner for a few drinks.”

Billy’s smile widened even more, “I’d love to.”

Well, Steve was absolutely fucked now wasn’t he.

—

It was about four hours later that they all finally made it over to Hops, the little hole in the wall bar around the corner from the studio, the sun was just starting to set. Dustin had fucked off to go hang out with Lucas and Mike and catch up on the old days and Robin had to go meet a source for the another investigation she was working on so it was just him, Nancy, Jonathan and Billy tonight. 

Billy, after his interview had been finished, had hung around, his nose buried in a book while Steve and the others finished up their photo shoot and interview. He’d changed out of the outfit from earlier and was now dressed in a pair of holy jeans and a soft sweater that was so large it hung off of one shoulder. 

He was gorgeous in a soft sort of homey way and Steve is very proud of the fact that he only stumbled over his words twice in the whole interview and that he hadn’t spent the entire photo shoot just staring at Billy over on the other side of the room. 

Hops was fairly busy by the time they made it there but they all managed to squeeze in at the bar. Steve was particularly surprised when Hopper, the namesake and owner of the bar, reached over to pull Billy in for a hug, ruffling his hair, “Kid, how have you been, it’s been too long.”

Billy has this sort of soft dopey smile on his face, practically preening under the attention and affection. “Good, busy but good.”

“Wait what...”Steve started only to be cut off by Jonathan. 

“Mom not working tonight?” Hopper had married Jonathan’s mom, Joyce, about six or seven years back. He’d essentially become a second dad to everyone in The Party in the process. 

“Nah, El has been in town the last few days and wanted to take her and Will out to dinner and someone had to watch the bar so here I am,” Hopper responded, pouring a few beers and placing them in front of everyone. 

“El didn’t mention she’d be in New York this week,” That was Billy, leaning back in his seat to tuck one leg up underneath the other before leaning forward again, elbows on the bar resting his chin in his hands and Jesus Christ why is it that everything he did was so adorable. 

“She’s not around for long, and pretty booked up with interviews.”

“Wait, Hold up, you know each other?” Steve questioned, looking between Billy and Hopper, “How.”

“El, his daughter, was in of the first artists to sign to Max and I’s label,” Billy responded, fiddling with his glass a bit, “but Hopper and I go back even before that, he was police chief back in my home town way back when, helped Max and I get out of a pretty shitty situation.”

“Steve, you were at my mom and Hop’s wedding, Billy was there too,” Jonathan commented. 

“Wait, what?”

“You were pretty wasted that night,” added Nancy “so not such a surprise you don’t remember.”

“I had to leave after the ceremony and before the reception so pretty sure our paths never crossed,” added Billy. “Plus I hadn’t really made many waves yet as a model so not like I would have been someone who caught anyone’s attention.”

Yeah like that was even remotely true. Steve’s pretty sure he would have clocked someone like Billy from a mile away even pre modeling days.

“On that note, I’ve got to take stock of a few things in the back, but if you need me flag down Carol, she’ll get you taken care of,” he nodded over to the waitress flitting around from booth to booth. “It’s good seeing you kids again.”

The next few hours passed pretty calmly, they relocated back into a booth and just chatted for a while, ordered some food and enjoyed the company. 

As the night went on Hops was getting more crowded and it was getting harder and harder to flag Carol down so Billy volunteered to push his way through the crowd and grab a few more beers for them. 

“You’re so head over heels on this one aren’t you,” commented Nancy when Billy was out of earshot. 

“I have no idea what you’re talking about,” Steve sniffed even as he tore his eyes away from where Billy was across the room, leaning up against the bar talking to Carol while she poured a few more beers. It was then that Steve also noticed another man, big, burly and not all that attractive lean up against the bar, crowding into Billy’s space. 

“He’s a good person Steve, a bit prickly, but good,” added Jonathan, “he helped Will out a bunch when he was struggling with coming out. You could do worse.”

“Uh huh,” Steve responded, not really paying attention to Jonathan, more focused on what was going on across the room. He saw the way Billy’s brows knot together when the man said something, likely disgusting, and the way he reared back rage in his eyes. He didn’t catch the sharp retort, but whatever it was next thing he knew the man had backhanded Billy across the face and Steve was out of his seat charging across the room. 

Everything after that went black and he came to only when Billy and Jonathan were pulling him back off the other man, whose face was a bloody mess and who was spitting venom at them as one of his own friends pulled him away as well. Steve’s not sure what happened in the intervening time, but his jaw hurt and he had a pounding headache. Even then, it took Jonathan, Nancy, Billy and Hopper to hold him back from mauling the asshole when he caught sight of Billy’s split lip. 

He was dragged into the back room of the bar, Hopper pressing a bag of frozen peas into Billy’s hand and pointing to Steve’s face before heading back out into the main room with Jonathan and Nancy to clean up and clear out the rest of the patrons to close early. 

They didn’t talk for the first few moments, Billy just pressing the bag to the side of Steve’s face that was steadily throbbing, avoiding Steve’s eyes as best he could as he stood in front of the barstool Steve was seated on. 

Eventually Steve couldn’t take the silence much longer, “Not exactly how I would have wanted this night to end.” Oh god why would he phrase it that way, god he was so dumb. 

“I don’t need you protecting me,” Billy snapped, pressing the bag of peas into Steve’s face a bit harder and eliciting another wince, “I’m perfectly capable of taking care of myself and don’t some front man pretty boy to defend my honor.”

Steve had thankfully enough experience with his own wounded pride in similar circumstances to know where this was coming from. Billy was compensating for the fact that he’d been caught off guard and someone else had had to step in, that he’d needed a little help so he was able to choose his next words carefully to diffuse the situation. “And let you have all the fun beating up assholes who don’t know that no means no, I couldn’t help myself,” he joked but his hands were gentle as he gripped Billy’s wrist, pulling his hand and the bag of frozen peas from his face so he could get a complete and unobstructed view of Billy’s face.

Once he did he could see that there was something else at play here. Billy’s eyes were wide and sad looking, his mouth turned downward and brow furrowed. Steve was about to ask if there was more to all of this but Billy beat him to it. 

“I can usually handle guys like that on my own, I’ve had to learn how to what with it being just me and Max for the last couple of years. But this guy caught me off guard,” Billy hesitated there, biting his lip, Steve could almost see him fighting with what he was going to say next. When he finally did speak Steve really shouldn’t have been as surprised by his words as he was. “He looked like my dad and I just sort of froze, snapped back like I always would but then couldn’t actually really make any move to protect myself when he hit me.”

Steve knew a little about Billy’s background. Had read enough interviews to guess that his dad had been an abusive asshole even before he saw the look on Billy’s face now, but he wasn’t about to take advantage and pry into this and push Billy to share any more than he was prepared to so instead he just kept his grip on Billy gentle, moves slowly as he reached out to grip the back of Billy’s neck and pull him forward to rest his chin on Billy’s curls, letting Billy press into the hallow of his throat and making a soft shushing sound as he readjusted in the stool he had been perched on and wrapped his arms around Billy. 

“It’s ok, you don’t have to talk about it.”

“You’re smarter than you look pretty boy, you know that,” Steve chose to ignore the way Billy’s voice sounded thick with tears and refrained from calling Billy out. 

“It’s been mentioned from time to time.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Comments and Kudos much appreciated!


	4. Rumor Has It

After that night at Hops something changed in Billy and Steve’s relationship. They settled into rhythm, slowly spending more and more time with each other. 

It was small at first, drinks on a Saturday when they were both in the city, coffee that rainy Tuesday when they were both randomly in LA at the same time, dinner that night Nancy, Robin and Jonathan were celebrating their anniversary and Steve needed to get some distance from them or else he’d start to remember how desperately alone he was. 

Their work lives seemed to be lining up more as well, their paths starting to cross on a more consistent basis. 

To everyone’s surprise, Billy and Max’s fledgling record label was gaining steam quickly. Billy had an ear for good music and Max a talent for promoting their artists in a way that felt authentic and approachable. Because of that Billy’s presence in the music scene was starting to go way beyond just appearing at awards shows or starring in music videos and because of this he and Steve seemed to keep bumping into each other. 

Not that Steve minded, once you got past that tough shell Billy projected there was something really soft and gentle about him. He also had a protective streak a mile wide that Steve had an opportunity to see when walking the same red carpet at some movie premiere that used both the Party and El’s music and some reporter made the mistake of calling El a passing fad.

Steve was just two or three people down from Billy and barely heard the comment over the din of all the other reporters. He glanced over just in time to see Billy snarl something in the girl and watch the reporter just stare back at him, mouth agape as Billy stalked away, people dodging out of his way as he bypassed the entire press line and headed right into the theater. 

Steve made a hasty excuse, something about wanting to get a good seat which was so idiotic since they had reserved seats, and followed Billy inside. 

He was just quick enough to catch Billy right before he slipped into the theater, his hand circling around the other mans bicep and pulling him towards a semi private corner of the entry way, blocked off by a few potted plants and some signage for the premiere. 

“Hey, it’s ok, just settle,” he soothed, noticing the way Billy’s shoulders were bunched up, his jaw tight and eyes flashing. Steve just kept up the stream of soothing words as he pulled Billy in a bit closer, hands running on his shoulders trying to act as a calming presence. 

Slowly he watched Billy unwind a bit, muscles loosening and rage draining out of his eyes. 

“You ok?” Steve asked after a few minutes of silence passed between them. 

Billy just hummed in acknowledgment, shuffling a little bit until he was leaning into Steve’s side, so close that Steve could feel the line of warmth even through both of their suit jackets. Then Billy went and leaned his head on Steve’s shoulder and he’s pretty sure that’s the moment his brain short circuited because he didn’t hear a word Billy said after that. 

Next thing he knew he was just blurting out, “you want to just skip out on this thing, grab dinner? There is this amazing Thai place two blocks over and it’s not like anyone will miss us.”

He couldn’t help but be a little charmed at the way Billy cocked his head to the side, confusion clear in is eyes, “I mean sure they won’t miss me but your bands song is literally in the trailer.”

“Nah, Dustin can keep him distracted and I’m hungry,” Steve pulled away then, standing up a bit straighter and then holding a hand out to Billy. “You in?”

Steve felt his heart construct a little bit in his chest when a soft smile spread across Billy’s face. 

“Lead the way Pretty Boy,” he responded, slipping his hand into Steve’s and allowing himself to be pulled out a back door and down an ally out of sight from the crowds and reporters. 

—

Billy should have known this would happen. 

Sure there had been rumblings about a relationship for months, ever since that music video, but nothing really concrete that would give the paparazzi something to harass them about. But this, this was something they were actually going to have to address at some point. 

“I can’t believe this is happening,” he groaned out, tossing the gossip rag across the counter to Max. “How could we have been so stupid.”

Max glanced up from the contract she was reading to peer down at the magazine, “I don’t see why you’re so upset, it’s a nice picture.”

“It’s a nice picture implying Steve and I are dating,” which they weren’t, much to Billy’s dismay, despite the way they were holding hands in the picture and the big dopey smile on Billy’s face as Steve had lead them away from the theater. God that had been such an amazing night. The food was as fantastic as Steve had promised and they’d spent hours just talking about all the stupid shit in their lives. Steve was one of the closest friends Billy had ever had, one of the few people he’d ever talked to about his Mom and how much it sucked when she walked out on them. How he’d been eight and so confused when she left and he suddenly turned into his dad’s favorite punching bag. He’d never understood why she hadn’t taken him with her, probably never would. 

But that’s the thing, no matter how much Billy might want Steve to pin him to the bed and fuck him senseless, or hold him as they watched movies on the couch or just love him like he was someone worth loving, he’d never get that because Steve was, as far as Billy could tell, not in the least bit interested. 

Made sense too, who would want to commit to something as messy and difficult as a relationship with Billy might be. He knew what he was like after all, sarcastic, quick to anger, moody as hell. Billy could get why someone like Steve, who practically walked on sunshine, wouldn’t be interested. 

But now, thanks to the stupid fucking paps he was going to have to hear Steve say it aloud. He was going to have to listen to the guy he was head over fucking heels for explain to the press all the reasons he and Billy weren’t dating and that was going to sting. 

“I thought you had cleared that up,” El walked out of the bedroom, which was still a bit surreal to Billy, seeing El of all people just saunter out of his little sisters room and drop a kiss in her cheek. The relationship between Max and El was still pretty new and very hush hush at the moment, but they were also sickeningly adorable together in a way that made Billy so proud of Max for getting such a great catch but also made him want to hurl himself out a window because of how alone it made him feel. 

“We’ve made passing comments on how we’re not dating but never addressed the rumors head on,” never explicitly denied it either now that he thought about it. 

El’s brow furrowed in confusion, “Wait, I thought you’d both finally admitted your feelings for each other at that premiere and gotten together. You mean you’re still not dating?”

“Steve doesn’t have feelings for me El,” Billy corrected gently. 

That earned him an eye roll that even Henderson would have been proud of. “I beg to differ.”

“Have you at least tried talking to Steve about this?” Max cut in, effectively shutting down the snarky comment Billy had been about to spit out. 

“And listen to him put me down easy and tell me I’m not his type, I’ll pass,” and Steve would be gentle about it too, would never be malicious in turning Billy down but it would also make their relationship so uncomfortable. 

“You’re everyone’s type Billy,” El decided to speak up again. 

Billy didn’t have it in him to fight back, to snap about how Steve wasn’t so shallow. At this point it wasn’t really worth it, not when Max and El would just argue against all the reasons he wasn’t good enough for Steve. 

“Fine, I’ll talk to him.”

Eventually.....


End file.
